Temporary car roof for open top freight cars



y 1935. A. R. WILSON- TEMPORARY CAR ROOF FOR OPEN TOP FREIGHT CARS Filed Feb. 17, 1930 ATTO R N EY H a I i f mung, abi I i.@ IIIIII 1g 1 -H H w H H mnw Huuwnwhw iH. m 1 -HHM 1 mm. H W .Nw W A 4 1935. A. R. WILSON 2,009,038

TEMPORARY CAR ROOF FOR OPEN TOP FREIGHT CARS Filed Feb. 17, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY M 23, 1935. A, R W L N 2,009,038

TEMPORARY CAR ROOF FOR OPEN TOP FREIGHT CARS Filed Feb. 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 El E7 4K &

J k MA A h m i1 7 K) m k l Q) ,4 a. d V j'fi 0 ATTORNEY;

Patented July 23, 1935 Application February, 1930, Serial 15:6;

'2 Claims. "(01. fies-s77) The invention relates to railway car roofs and has for its main object the obtaining of a construction which is adapted for temporary use on open cars. In the present state of'the art railway freightcars'may be generally classed as closed or box cars and open or gondola cars. The first are designed to carry loads which must be protected from the weather, while the latter are used for the carrying of coal, ore and other loads which may be exposed to the weather without harm. There are, however, certain materials such as Portland cement which must be protected from the weather but which otherwise might be conveniently carried in open cars, especially those of the hopper type. It is also the case that open cars which are used for transporting loads in one direction must be returned empty in the other direction through lack of loads which can be safely exposed to the weather.

To increase the utility of these cars, I have designed a construction of temporary roof which may be easily applied thereto to render the same weatherproof and which when no longer needed may be quickly removed. This construction also in some of its features is well adapted for permanent use and for application to other cars than those of the open type. The invention therefore consists in the novel construction as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing the roof applied to an open car;

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section on line 4-4 of Figure 2 in the plane of the ridge;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section on line 55 in the plane of the purline, Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section on line 6-6 in the central plane of the hatch, Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a plan view showing a modified form of hatch; and 7 Figure 8 is a cross section therethrough.

A are the sides of an open car which at their upper ends are reinforced by the angle or channel beam B, this also extending across the car ends. The temporary roof is mounted upon these members B and is of the following construction. C are end plates preferably formed of wood which are secured by bolts D to the channel bars B. These end plates are fashioned to slope from the center of the car towards the eaves so as to give the desired pitch to the roof and they are weather-proofed by a facia E secured to their outer sides and dependingto overlap thechannel beam B. F :are ccarlines' preferably of inverted channel crosssection with laterally extending sideflanges; and i'which are distributed along the lengthof .thecarbeingsecured to the membersB by bolts G. A ridge pole H extends centrally longitudinally of the car being secured at its opposite ends to the end plate C and also at in-' termediate points to the carlines F. Purlines I may also be arranged intermediate the ridge pole and the eaves, being preferably bolted to the under side of the carlines and at their ends morticed into the end plates.

The construction thus far described constitutes a skeleton roof frame which may be covered by a flexible roof preferably of the following construction: J are roofing sheets of suitable dimensions to extend from the ridge to the eaves and between adjacent carlines. These plates rest upon the purlines I and ridge pole H while at the eaves they are supported on side plate filler blocks K which are secured to the members B. The sheets J are provided with upstanding flanges J at the sides and at the ridge while at the eaves are downturned flanges J preferably return bent as indicated at J Carline caps L weatherproof in between adjacent sheets at the sides thereof and ridge caps M weatherproof at the ridge. There are also combined junction caps and running board saddles N which are secured to the ridge pole by the bolts 0 and which complete the weatherproofing at the ridge. Flashings P at the eaves engaging the return bent flanges J complete the weatherprooflng at this point.

Open cars are usually loaded from the top and are therefore unprovided with any doors or other means of access to the interior. To provide for loading the car when the roof is applied thereto I have arranged at one or more points hatches Q which are constructed as follows: One or more of the sheets J is provided with an opening and with upstanding flanges J at the sides thereof. Q is a frame surrounding the opening and adjacent to the upstanding flanges J being secured to the sheet by a riveted flange Q at the bottom and having at the top the outwardly extending flange Q R is the hatch cover which has downturned flanges R on all sides thereof and Which fits over and rests upon the flanges Q The cover is secured by suitable means such as the eye-bolts S engaging angle brackets S projecting outward from the opposite sides of the frame Q. These bolts have threaded portions engaging clamping nuts T which latter engage slotted flanges U secured to the cover R and projecting outward therefrom. Thus when the nuts are tightened the covers will be securely clamped upon the hatch frames. In Figure 6 as shown this hatch is of rectangular form and in Figure '7 of circular form, but the constructions are otherwise substantially the same.

A roof constructed as above described. can be quickly applied to any gondola car, open car or other type of open car. Where applied to a hopper car, the car may be loaded through the hatch opening and the load discharged through the hopper doors as shown in Figure 1. n the other] hand, where applied to a flat bottom car the load may be introduced and hatch openings. r 1 V The construction of the hatch in connection with a roofing sheet while designed primarily for use as a part of a temporary car root, may also be employed on permanent roofs where for any reason it is desirable to introduce or remove the load through a hatch.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination with a railway freight car of the open top gondola type and comprising sides and ends having outwardly extending reinforcing removed through the flanges or plates, of a sectional temporary roof adapted for mounting on said car comprising end plate extensions mounted upon said end plates and sloped from center to eaves, carlines mounted on said side plates and spaced from each other and from said end plates, a ridge pole secured togsaid end plateextensions and said carlines, roofing sheets intermediate saidcarlines and extending from ridge to eaves, and weatherproofing -means for said roofing sheets.

2. The combination with a railway freight car of the opentop gondola type, of a sectional temporaryroof adapted for mounting on said car comprising supplemental end plates secured to the ends of said car and sloping from center to eaves, carlines spaced between the said end plates and secured to "thesides of the car, a ridge pole secured to said end plates and carlines, roofing sheets-intermediate said carlines extending from ridge to eaves and provided with upstanding side and ridge flanges and a depending eaves flange, transverse caps, ridge caps and flashings for weather-proofing said sheets and a running board at theridge. I

- ALFRED R. WILSON. 

